One of the key reasons that I stick with Nokia’s Symbian-powered smartphones is their ability to record video at a usable quality. I use my Nokia N79 to record Mobile With The Guru (well, when I’m not slacking off on it), but I also use it when I go to events, such as the upcoming Nokia World, as well as for personal recordings. I love that my phone is always with me, so I can fire it up whenever I need to record something, which is not the case with my digital camera.
Jonathan Bruha, over at his Thoughts on S60 blog, was recently at Mayhem Fest, a heavy rock band festival of sorts, and noticed that many people were recording the various artists and bands. However, much to his dismay, Jonathan observed that he was likely the only person using a Symbian-powered device from Nokia. Everyone else was using either a BlackBerry, iPhone, or even basic clamshell feature phones to record this moment in their lives. I’ve noticed this, too, specifically when attending weddings. There’s always some uncle or grandma who holds up their iPhone (this was before the new iPhone, of course) to snap a photo or something, and I can’t help but laugh.
I don’t laugh cause they’re using an iPhone – rather, I’m laughing because, of all the devices you would bring with you to capture such an important moment in someone’s life, why on *earth* would it make sense to use a 2 megapixel fixed-focus ‘camera’ with no flash?
In any case, as Jonathan rightly points out – this is a definite area of opportunity for Nokia, specifically in the United States. Take, for instance, the popularity of the Samsung Behold on T-Mobile, with its 8 megapixel camera, and other video recording phones out there. Clearly, the American public is down for some mobile video capture. However, sadly, due at least in part to a lack of marketing, they’re using such incredibly sub-par devices to capture these memories.
You can click through to see a sample video that Jonathan captured with his Nokia N97, and see what his suggestions are for Nokia to do with this opportunity in the U.S. If they’re going to advertise content creation, I would like to see a few accessory bundles, namely one that includes the DT-22 tripod and a freakin external microphone.
